May 12, 2010

RedStorm sign Piketon's Zimmerman

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm softball program has added one of the top players in southeastern Ohio in Piketon High School's Shella Zimmerman. Zimmerman is an outstanding pitching prospect who handles the bat pretty well also.

Zimmerman earned team Most Valuable Player honors last season as well as earning the Scioto Valley Conference Player of the Year honor, the first in two decades for a Piketon player. Zimmerman is likely to earn both of those honors this season as well. She was also selected 2^nd Team All-Ohio last season and 1^st team all-district.

Zimmerman is 17-1 for the Lady Redstreaks this season with a miniscule 0.55 earned run average. She has struck out 240 batters in 115 1/3 innings. Offensively, she is just as impressive, standing second on the team with a .500 batting average for head coach Bud Brabson. She has hit three home runs and has driven in, a team-leading, 27 for the season. 

She was SVC honorable mention as a sophomore in 2008. Zimmerman also garnered SVC honorable mention honors in volleyball as well. 

Zimmerman has played a ton of travel ball throughout her career, suiting up for the likes of the Slammin' Sluggers, Lancaster Phoenix, Chillicothe Chill and Vikings Elite. 

"I'm excited about going to Rio Grande," Zimmerman said. "I'm looking forward to moving to campus and meeting my teammates."

"I knew that Rio Grande was an excellent university," she added. "The facilities for the softball program are excellent."

Zimmerman said the softball program and the atmosphere of the campus were key factors in her decision to sign with Rio Grande. "The campus felt comfortable, the students were friendly, and they have a nice softball program." 

Rio Grande head coach David Pyles was pleased to land Zimmerman. "She was last years' conference player of the year and probably a strong front-runner for this year. We're excited to get Shella, I think she's a good catch for us here at Rio," Pyles said. 

Zimmerman said she is hard worker and believes she has plenty of solid attributes that she can bring to the Rio Grande team. "My best assets are that I am willing to work hard at improving my game," she said. "I have trained as a pitcher for a long while and I feel as though I can bring good things to Rio Grande." 

Pyles likes the fact that Zimmerman is much like one of his current pitchers, in junior-to-be Anna Smith, who excels at both pitching and hitting. "She certainly does, she's going to add depth to our pitching staff, but I think she's going to add some potent offense, which we obviously needed this year," Pyles said. "I think she'll come in and help us next year at the plate."

"She's a very athletic kid, too," Pyles added. "She can play shortstop, if a kid can play short, they usually can play about anywhere in the field. She's a very versatile kid, a strong kid, hits for average and power, so there again look for her to have an immediate impact here at Rio."

Zimmerman's goal is to be a better player in college than she was in high school. "My ultimate goal is to pass my high school pitching, fielding and hitting stats while playing at the college level," Zimmerman said. 

Shella plans to major in Occupational Therapy.

She is the daughter of Howard & Denise Zimmerman of Piketon. 

Zimmerman joins Rachael Connaughton of Ross High School as the current members of the 2010-11 softball recruiting class for Rio Grande.

The RedStorm finished the 2010 campaign with a 30-23 overall record. Rio was fourth in the Mid-South Conference compiling a 17-11 mark.